From telecommunications to financial services, network planners and managers must make the best use of their existing network assets and strategically plan for the future.
As a network changes, the traffic carried on the network may exceed its capacity. As a result, the network may develop hot spots and congestion points (sometimes collectively referred to as “congestion”) causing service to the network's customers to degrade. Furthermore, such a mismatch in traffic load versus capacity may limit the number of new customers that a network can attract and add.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods and systems for detecting such mismatches in order to alleviate congestion. It is also desirable to provide methods and systems that modify traffic flows to reduce the negative effects of such mismatches while causing little or no disruption to the operation of a network or the services it offers.